Kathy Brennan

Ideal for nights when you want to serve a home-cooked meal but everyone will be eating at different times, a staggered dinner dish can be left on the back of the stove and reheated as needed, or served at room temperature or cold.

We eat this salad—which is a great way to stretch a piece of beef—all year long for lunch and dinner, but it's particularly good during the warmer months. The thinly sliced meat, the crunch of the cucumbers and red onions, and the heady aroma of mint and cilantro tossed with the chile-spiked salty-sweet dressing seem made for hot days and nights.

This baked dish is the result of playing around in the kitchen one day and merging two beloved cheesy dishes: chiles rellenos and pasta al forno. It's creamy with some heat and tang, but nothing overwhelming. Still, if you prefer a more standard penne, omit the chiles. For a smoky note, consider using fire-roasted canned tomatoes in place of the regular ones. You can also play with the cheeses.

There's something about the pairing of chicken and rice that is so appealing and comforting, and these paella-like dishes are definitely perennial crowd-pleasers. Dirty rice is a Cajun and Creole staple so named because of the way the rice looks after it is cooked with pieces of chicken liver. Now, if you don’t like liver or think you don’t like liver, please don't let that stop you from trying this version. Even though it plays an important supporting role, once the liver is mixed in, you really can't distinguish it; it’s like the anchovies in a Caesar dressing. That said, if you still don’t want to use it, simply double the amount of sausage.

This condiment, called nam pla prik (nam pla is fish sauce, prik is chile), is found on virtually every home and restaurant table in Thailand. It’s considered a flavor enhancer, similar to our salt and pepper, and is fantastic on Thai Beef Salad, spooned onto plain or fried rice and grilled meats or fish, or as a dipping sauce for raw vegetables, spring rolls, and summer rolls. The sauce is traditionally made with bird's eye chiles, but as they're not readily available in the States, we usually substitute jalapeño and/or crushed red pepper flakes.